


Andromeda's Story-Book One

by consultingfangirl019



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Crossover, Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-06-21
Updated: 2015-11-14
Packaged: 2018-02-05 13:23:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 15,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1819999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/consultingfangirl019/pseuds/consultingfangirl019
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Andromeda Jackson, twin of Percy and daughter of Poseidon has moved to dreary Forks, Washington after fulfilling the Great Prophecy. There, she meets the Cullens, a type of monster she's never encountered before. But are they really monsters? Can she and Percy keep their secret when running from homicidal vampires? Book one in the Andromeda Series. Book two of series is in progress</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everybody. this is something I've been thinking about for a while, and I finally got off my butt to make it happen. Favorites and follows are appreciated, of course, but I really need at least one or two reviews as feedback to see if I'm any good at this. Thank you!

Guilt. Overwhelming guilt weighed down on me. If only, if only I could have done something. I didn't know what, but it was my fault. There was a girl at the end of the hall. It was dark, and she was crying. My fault again. I rushed to her, but my feet felt as if they were moving through mud. Finally, I reached her. "What's wrong?" I gently asked, putting my hand on her shoulder. She whirled around, pushing my hand away and looking me in the face. My stomach dropped.

"This is all YOUR fault!" the girl screamed through her tears. She was me, younger. I recoiled from her, sucking in air to scream, knowing it would be pointless, but doing it anyway.

My eyes snapped open to Percy hovering above me. "Meda, you were having a nightmare," he explained.

"Yeah," I said quietly. I glanced at the clock. Four thirty. Ugh. Three more hours until we had to hop in my car and drive to Forks high school, home of the Spartans, ironically. I just convinced Percy to live with my adopted dad Charlie and me in tiny little Forks, Washington. It had been about two years since I'd been here, with living with my adoptive mom, and going to camp half-blood when I needed to, and fulfilling the great prophecy, I just didn't have time to visit like I used to.

After I was born, Sally Jackson, my mother, told me that I'd just disappeared from the hospital. She had Percy, and had raised him as normally as she could, hiding him in the mortal world. I was not so lucky. I had been taken into camp when I was four years old, because the monsters can always smell the child of a powerful god, and I had no protection. I was bounced around foster care until I went to camp, and camp half-blood became my home. I lived there year round for about three years, the youngest camper ever. I had become proficient with a bow, decent with a sword, but showed true talent with a long knife in each hand. The older campers taught me how to fight, how to make friends, and what loss feels like as one by one they all died from one thing or another. Making it to your late teens was a celebration. Making it to your twenties was rare. Making it anywhere near 25 was a downright miracle. I was one of the many unclaimed children, living in the Hermes cabin with others. But I was different. The youngest child ever brought to camp, and once I walked in a river and didn't get wet. I had to focus on getting wet before it happened. When I first realized that, I kept it secret. I didn't tell anyone, even Chiron. I wanted to, but had a feeling I shouldn't.

When I was about seven, I decided to chance it again in the mortal world. I could protect myself better than before, with a small dagger in each shoe and coat sleeve. That's where I met Charlie and Renée. They were living in New York at the time and were looking to adopt a child because they found they couldn't have any. Charlie was a low level cop, Renée was going to school for interior design. They were the first ones to give me a chance. They were angry, of course, when I came home late, covered in scratches and cuts and bruises from my fights with monsters or other children. But they never gave up. So I told them that I was a half blood, unclaimed, and they believed me.

Then they also did something that changed me. They put me in ballet lessons. There were so many others in there, my scent was masked somewhat. And I loved it. The jumping, twirling, and competition sang to me. I could go home and sleep because I was so tired. Then they dropped the bombshell. Divorce. My world was thrown upside down at age 10, again. Renée went to phoenix, Arizona for her design job, and Charlie went back to forks, his hometown. I went to camp, Charlie's, and Renée's for a year before I put my foot down. I would only go to Renée and camp. Charlie was the responsible adult; he would be fine on his own. Renée was more irresponsible, and needed me more. I kept in touch with Charlie, going when I could, but I still felt guilt.

Then I met Percy when the toilets exploded. We were both claimed as the children of Poseidon, twin siblings. I admit I was angry. I waited eight years, and he waited a month. So we began our adventures to fulfill prophecies and whatnot. We just finished saving the world in august when I invited Percy to live with me in forks with Charlie. I guess Sally named me Andromeda because she did not want Percy and me to get separated. But we were, for 12 years of our lives. And I never actually lived with him like I was supposed to. We shared summers in camp, but that was really it. But now, with Sally and Renée both married, I felt I should spend time with Charlie and Percy again. And we were starting our sophomore year in high school in November in three hours.

"Couldn't have waked up an hour later, right. And you know I can't go back to sleep," Percy complained, sitting on my mattress.

"Well deal. And at least you have time to fix up your hair," I shot back.

He sighed dramatically, and then turned serious. "You have your pencils and your watch, right?"

"Of course, idiot," I reassured him. My watch was the one Tyson gave me, the one with the shield on the inside. My pencils turned into knives when I clicked the lead out.

Charlie had assured us that through the kindness of their hearts, the school had given us the same schedule for the rest of the year. If we lasted that long. I pushed the thought away. We would be fine. Time passed, and I ate my breakfast and showered. I was glad that I had the bathroom to myself. Percy and Charlie had to share. I put my hair in the usual tight braid down my back. Just my luck if we met some titan or something else on our first day. At 7:15 we were ready to go. Armed and dangerous and all that jazz. I pulled into the parking lot and killed the engine to the old truck Charlie bought off his friend as our present.

Percy glanced nervously at the students milling around. He didn't like school as much, with his ADHD and dyslexia. For some reason, I was the anomaly among demigods and had neither.

"Hey," I said, lightly punching him in the shoulder. "You'll do fine. I'll be there with you and everything."

His mouth lifted at the corners a bit, and he touched his camp necklace. Mine had more beads, but I never took it off either.

"Let's go," he said, and got out of the car.

We walked up to the office and tried to ignore the blatant stares of the other students. It was a small town, not many new people, there would be talk, I knew. Head up, I told myself. We eventually reached the office and got our schedules. The TA at the office then walked us to our first class. She made eyes at Percy. He didn't seem to notice. Good.

The day was uneventful. Just going from class to class, introducing ourselves, smiling when needed. The lunch break was a gift from the gods, I didn't know if I could take it any longer. Percy and I sat with some people we met, Jessica, Angela, mike, Tyler, Eric, and another girl who I forgot. There were no monsters that I noticed. We made small talk at lunch, and then I saw them. Five people who did not look like people walked into the room. Well, they more like glided. Their skin was too pale, faces too symmetrical.

"Who are they?' I asked Jessica. She whispered that they were the Cullens, moved there a year ago, all adopted, father a doctor at the local hospital. I nodded at all the right points, but kept glancing back to them. They all bought a lunch, but they did not eat. Too graceful, too…. Wrong. Monsters? But why bother blending in, why not attack us where we stood? Again, I was grateful we survived a swim in the Styx. At least we had some ready protection in case they did attack. And, Percy was the best swordsman and I was the best knives woman the camp had seen in centuries. We could take them, I was sure. I could be deadly if I needed to be.

"Keep an eye out," I whispered to Percy in Greek. I didn't want anyone asking questions. He nodded and went back to eating.

"I'm glad we're here though" he said. "We've never…" I understood. We never got to be brother and sister like we should be. We didn't grow up together, didn't spend enough time together.

"I know," I said. I looked up at the possible monsters, and found one staring at me already. Red gold hair, symmetrical face, puzzled expression. I looked down. Lunch ended, and Spanish began. Thankfully, we didn't have to introduce ourselves then. We took the trek down to biology, and then the teacher held us at the front. Looked like he would make us introduce ourselves. Ugh. I gave the simple introduction I'd been giving all day. I looked around and saw one of the possible monsters sitting at an empty table. No friends. Hm.

"Hello," I said to the class. "My name is Andromeda Jackson and this is my brother Percy. We just moved here from New York, and we are, in fact, twins."

The teacher gestured to the empty seat next to monster boy. Great. Percy dragged a spare stool over and I sat in the one there. Monster boy stiffened. I set out my notebook and pens, then just in case, my pencils. I could grab them if needed. I glanced at him, and saw that his eyes were fixed on me, black pools of hatred. I looked back to the front, and took notes when I needed to on the lecture. I nudged Percy with my leg, and he looked over me to the monster boy….. Edward, I think Jessica said his name was. Well, if he hated me so much, but didn't attack, I think that said a lot. Maybe he was mortal. A strange, non-mortal looking mortal. Percy nudged me back, noting the look on my other partner's face. The hour passed like that, and when it ended, Edward quickly left the room. Very quickly, too quickly, really. I would keep an eye on him.


	2. Chapter two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I really need a little bit of feedback. thanks for reading!

The bell rang- signaling the end of biology. Next was gym. I wasn't too sure how I felt about that, because most of my gym experience came from shooting arrows, throwing knives, and decapitating straw dummies. A boy with carefully gelled blond hair came up to us and introduced himself as mike from lunch. He also had gym the next period, and offered to show us to there. Percy and I agreed. The people here were more friendly and outgoing than in New York, something to do with the small town mindset, I guessed.

"Did you see the TA from the office making eyes at you this morning?" I whispered to Percy with a smirk.

"Of course not," he said, blushing a bit.

"Because if you did, I would have to tell Nabs, you know." I warned.

"Why do you call her that? Her name is Annabeth." Percy said with a sigh. "I'd never be able to get away with a nickname."

"Well excuse you, but I've known her since I was seven. And the word nab is in her name, so there." I said. Yeah it was strange at first when my brother started dating one of my best friends, but you didn't have to be the oracle to know it was coming.

"Hey what was up with Cullen today?" the boy, mike, asked. "He looked like you stabbed him with a pencil or something."

I had to hide my laugh in a cough. Stab him with my pencil indeed. What a lovely thought. "No, I dunno what's up with him," I said.

Percy was also smiling as we entered the gym. "Don't worry, us Yanks are used to more rudeness than that," he said.

Thankfully, we didn't have to participate in gym for that day because we didn't have a uniform. The teacher said that there was some left in the office for newcomers like us. So Percy and I just had to sit in the corner watching the other students play volleyball. Not one of my favorites, but I supposed that I could hold my own if I needed to.

"So what do you think about that family?" Percy asked me quietly.

"They don't seem like monsters- at least any that I've ever had the pleasure of encountering." I responded. Percy laughed. He'd seen some marks of the 'pleasure' I'd had encountering many types of monsters. I shifted in my place, feeling the armor around my stomach move.

Before I went in the Styx, I knew I would need to have the "Achilles heel" somewhere on my body. So I chose a place in my stomach, a few inches above my belly button. That way I would always see an attack coming. I then asked Beckendorf to make me armor that would wrap around my stomach. He made a masterpiece, it was almost like fish scales that molded itself to my skin as I moved, and so lightweight I could barely feel it.

"But," I continued, "There's something not right about them. During the class, I even tried shifting the mist away from him so I could see if he was human or not. But there wasn't any to shift away. He was like one of the mortals."

Percy nodded, looking troubled. "But the way he acted…" he trailed off. "It was so strange. But if they were monsters, I don't see why they wouldn't attack. Witnesses never seem to be a problem for them."

I laughed, remembering all the times I've been attacked in public, wishing that witnesses did protect us. The period passed like that, and when we left, we went to the office to get the gym uniforms and turn in the slip all of our teachers signed.

When we walked into the office, I almost took Percy's arm and walked out. Edward Cullen was in front of the desk, talking to the receptionist. I could make out some of what he was saying. He wanted to transfer out of biology to another class, and any other time. Percy and I looked at each other. Strange. A girl walked into the office and the door swung shut. Edward turned around and glared at us before telling the receptionist that he would suffer through biology if he had to.

After we turned in our slips and got our uniforms, Percy and I gathered up our things and walked out to the truck. I handed Percy the keys- our deal was that I would drive in the morning and he would on the afternoon.

"Okay, I'm 99% sure he's not a monster," he said as we sat in the truck. "Why would he want to get away from us? Most of them want to get close to kill, not farther away." He started the truck.

"But what made him act like that then. And no offense, but I think he was angry at me, not you," I said as I shook my hair out of the braid. "He was glaring at me in biology, and it seemed he was glaring at me again in the office. Maybe it's just because I'm the one who sat next to him. Maybe he's gay and wants to get it on with you." I dramatically looked horrified.

Percy slammed his head against the steering wheel and sighed at the red light. "Oh my gods," was all he offered as a response. He didn't say anything as he pulled into the driveway. As he parked the car, he looked at me and started laughing. We survived our first day, no attacks at school, and we have an enemy. I joined in and eventually we were both crying. Relief, joy, and belonging flowed through me. Here I was, being almost normal with my brother for the first time ever. It felt great.

The next day it was raining, big surprise there. The next day was a bit better, people didn't stare as much, and if they did, it wasn't for as long. Some people sat with us at lunch, and I could smile and nod and play along with all of them. I glanced at the Cullen and Hale family to see if I would have to deal with Edward again today. But he wasn't there. Okay. I could deal with that. I was confident he wasn't a monster, but if he did the glare thing again I was going to ask him what his deal was. But now, I didn't have to. The day passed uneventfully, and in gym I didn't hit anyone with the ball, so that was good. After some time, Charlie got back and asked us how our second day went. He wasn't sure how to act around Percy, but I could tell he was becoming more comfortable. After that, we settled into the routine of school, homework, and hunting monsters when needed. Surprisingly, there was not a single monster for three days. But one day our math teacher was out sick, and the substitute looked suspicious. So I spilled my bag, and Percy stayed behind until all the students were out of the room. Then I pulled my knives and stabbed the substitute in the face. Had he been mortal, I would have had to use the Mist to make him forget a knife passed through him. But he wasn't mortal. He looked surprised for a moment before he exploded into the white dust all monsters did.

After some time, I got used to not dealing with Edward Cullen. His family didn't seem to be as rude as him, further solidifying my theory that he was just a pretty, rude mortal. Mike and Eric invited Percy and I to a trip to the beach on the nearby Indian reservation. Charlie's friend Billy and his son Jacob came by the house a few times. They seemed nice, and it would be welcome to spend time by the sea where I was most comfortable.

Percy then decided that he should drop the bombshell. "Meda, I need to transfer out of that biology class. I can't take it anymore." He said one afternoon.

"What? Percy I know it's difficult, but I'll help you if you need it and you can always ask the teacher for help," I said. I knew a few people in the class, but he was the one to sit next to me.

"You know the intro to chemistry class you need to take before biology?" he asked me, not looking in my eyes.

"What about it?"

"I failed it. Barely scraped a D in the class. I was really stressing out about the prophecy, and…."

I cut him off. "Fine. I understand. It's your life; you need to do what you have to." I was disappointed, but what could I do?

"Thanks Meda. It's just that one class. I'll still have all other ones with you." he said hopefully.

I had my empty lab desk all to myself for a few days, and that was nice. People left me alone, something I was used to.

A few more days passed before Forks got the first snow of the season. I wasn't a big fan of it, but I could deal. Being from New York made someone used to it after a while. But this one was more of a snow and rain mixture. Percy and I just stepped into the cafeteria quietly debating if Tyson should specialize in making armor or weapons.

"Have you seen your watch? Genius! And it's strong and flexible, perfect protection against anything, really. And he's not much of a fighter, so armor is great," I argued.

"Well I've seen him repair some swords, and I think that's where his true talent lies," Percy said, elbowing me in the shoulder.

"not really, his true talent lies in eating a pound of peanut butter and a 24 pack of mountain dew in an hour," I shot back. Percy laughed and rolled his eyes. After we got our lunch, I heard a sharp crack and turned to look where the noise was coming from. While I was looking, I saw the Cullen table. They were laughing and throwing snow. All five of them. Shit.


	3. chapter three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can I please have some feedback? I am new to AO3, so thanks for reading.

I stepped on Percy's foot and he saw the five of them laughing.

"Keep an eye on him in Bio, okay?" he said, worried.

"You think I was going to do anything else?" I rolled my eyes. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I mean, I've only been trained to kill since I was four. And I came to school practically armed to the teeth every day. I wondered what would happen if they installed metal detector at the entrances.

All of the people at the table were very excited for some sort of snowball fight that was going to happen after class in the parking lot. I, of course, took it upon myself to actually look out the window and saw that the snow had turned into rain. I smiled, happy it was not as cold as to cause snow anymore.

Lunch finished, and on the way out of the cafeteria, the boys groaned as they saw the snow turn into slush and melt away. Mike walked to biology with me, lamenting all the way about the lost opportunity for a snowball fight.

"Don't feel bad," I said as I walked into the classroom, "the snow wasn't the right texture anyway."

He seemed to cheer up as he walked to his table at the back of the classroom. The teacher, Mr. Banner, was distributing microscopes and slides to each table with the directions to identify which stage of reproduction the cell was in. I flipped open the textbook with the pictures of the example cells and then stared at the second hand move around the clock. The room was buzzing, many excited that they have a chance to talk to their friends instead of taking notes silently on a lecture.

Briefly, I worried about how to interact with Edward. I would have to talk to him, it was a partner activity. And if he tried anything, I could always stab him or shoot him. I closed my eyes and wished for the hundredth time that Percy didn't fail his intro to chemistry class last year and was here with me. I turned my thoughts to that gym I saw on the drive home from school, and if they would hire me as a dance instructor. I'd probably have to just teach the little kids instead of the more advanced ones.

The chair next to me scraped loudly, but I ignored it. Since he hated me so much, I'd have to ignore him as much as possible.

"Hello," a quiet voice said.

I opened my eyes and looked at him. He was beautiful, handsome, and gorgeous all mixed into perfection. I didn't like it. From my experience, the beautiful ones were the most dangerous. Spending any amount of time with the goddess of love and beauty could teach anyone that lesson.

"I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to introduce myself last week. I'm Edward Cullen. And you must be Meda Jackson?" he asked.

"How do you know my name?" I asked. Charlie loved the sound of my full name, and would tell anyone who would listen that my name was Andromeda after that Greek princess.

"I think everyone knows your name, it's been the topic of conversation for weeks around here." He laughed almost musically.

"Oh. It's just that my dad calls me Andromeda behind my back, and that's what everyone knows me as. Please, keep calling me Meda," I said.

"Oh," he said awkwardly.

The class started at that moment, thankfully. Just labeling the cells. He pushed the microscope to me, saying, "ladies first?"

I'd done this once before with another class I had in Arizona. It took a bit of remembering before I correctly got the phase of the cell right.

"May I?" Edward asked after I wrote it down on the lab sheet.

"Sure," I said. I pushed the microscope to him and his hand brushed mine. I jerked it away.

It was cold, really, really, cold. Too cold. I've never encountered a monster that was pretending to be a human with cold hands before. Maybe he didn't have gloves. Maybe it was just bad circulation.

He labeled the other one quickly and pushed the microscope back to me to identify the next slide. And that's how it went, I looked at the slides, and he would check my work. I wondered if he'd done this before as well. After all of the slides were labeled, I looked at the clock and had to stop myself from hitting my head against the desk. That would probably not do so well for the desk. 30 minutes left to go in the class, and I was bored out of my mind. Ugh.

I felt eyes on me and looked at Edward. He had a look of confusion or frustration on his face. Then I spotted it. When he glared at me, his eyes had been dark brown or black. Now they were lighter, more gold than anything else.

"Did you get contacts?' I asked him. He looked confused.

"No, why?" he asked.

"Your eyes look different," I said. I was testing his reaction, and he looked confused still. I was 99% sure, but that 1% was still nagging at me. I needed to find out what he was, for my own safety and Percy's, but also for the world. I had to do that a lot, save the world.

The teacher took that moment to come over and ask us why we weren't working. I told him I'd done the lab before, in my other school.

"Well, it's a good thing you two are partners," he said, turning away. "At least the other kids will get a chance to learn something," he muttered sourly under his breath.

I laughed once quietly. So not only was he pretty, he was a genius as well?

"It's too bad about the snow, isn't it?" he asked me quietly.

Oh so now he was trying to be nice? Blech.

"Not really, I couldn't care less," I said, staring at him. Maybe it would make him uncomfortable and he'd shut up. He looked surprised by my answer.

"You must not like the cold or wet, though, coming from Phoenix. Is Forks a difficult place to live?" he kept asking me questions.

"Forks are a place like any other." I said. "It just rains more. Can't be helped."

"Then why come here?" he asked accusingly.

Fine. I'd humor him.

"My adoptive mother and biological mothers both got remarried. I thought I'd bring Percy over here so he can meet my adoptive dad and live happily ever after." I said. But there wasn't going to be a happily ever after. I knew, deep down, that my days were numbered. You can't be a child of the big three and live to see your kids grow up or something.

He looked surprised by my answer. Then he said something that surprised me.

"You put on a good show, but I'm willing to bet you're suffering more than you let on," he said.

I ignored that. Don't cry, I sternly said, trying to shut out the faces of all the people who died for me, because of me. All the people, my family, really, who died because I existed.

"Why does it matter to you?" I snapped at him. What was with the sudden therapy session?

"That's a good question," he mused to himself. "Am I annoying you?"

"Yes," I said. Leaving it at that.

Mr. Banner started the class again, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Edward leaning away from me, his hands clenched into fists. So I didn't just make up the thing last week. That was a relief, he was acting so much nicer today, and I thought for a moment that I had gone crazy. On the way to gym, I met up with Percy and mike. The class had switched to badminton. That was acceptable, although I thought of all the ways I could physically harm someone with the racket if I needed to. One thing I took real pride in was the ability I had to turn almost anything into a weapon.

The rain had turned into mist by the time Percy and I left for the parking lot. I handed Percy the keys while telling him in a low voice what happened in the class. He turned the engine on and I said that I was still sure he was mortal- not a problem for us.

I felt someone looking at me, so I turned around to look out the window, and three cars down, Edward Cullen was staring at me intently. I stared back. Was he trying to intimidate me? Then in that case, he was failing. Very few things intimidated me anymore.

Percy put the car into reverse and drove home. I pointed out the gym/dance studio to him and said one afternoon I wanted to go see if I could get a job or something. He congratulated  
me and promised he would go with me for moral support.

"Yeah, and the fact that I'm the one with the car keys, jackass," I said.

That night, my dream was different. I was in the center of the room, and I was surrounded by multiple Edwards. I tried to escape, but they wouldn't let me. They kept coming closer and closer, and then they all opened their eyes.

They were all blood red.


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, of course, and thank you for feedback and comments and kudos. I'm new to AO3, so thank you!

My eyes snapped open. I looked around in confusion, the room was so bright. Did I oversleep? I rushed to the window and saw the source of the brightness. There was about two inches of snow, and all the rain from yesterday had frozen into ice. I checked my clock and saw that the alarm was going off in 10 minutes. I turned it off and got ready for school. Charlie had already left for work, and Percy and I had the house to ourselves. Percy was worried about driving on the ice, but I assured him that truck was practically a tank, and we'd be fine.

But, he slipped going down the driveway and shot me a glare that said, "I told you so."

I admit I did take my time getting to school that day, but for some reason the truck didn't even slip or anything. Maybe the roads already had salt or sand on it. When I got out of the car, a silver glint caught my eye. I gripped the truck carefully as I went over to the back tire and saw chains. Charlie must have put them on before he left for work. He was quiet, but the gesture showed that he really did care.

"Hey Percy!" I called as he got out of the truck.

"Yeah, what?" he asked.

"Charlie put chains on the back tires. That's why we didn't kill ourselves this morning." I laughed.

He stopped on the opposite side of the truck and examined the chains. "That was nice of him, although he really didn't have to," he said. Just then he looked behind me in horror.

MEDA! GET DOWN! I heard him think in my head. I whipped my head around and saw several things in once. A car with tires locked against the ice was heading straight towards me. Edward Cullen was a few cars over, looking at me with an unreadable expression. If I was human, I probably would have died. But I'm not. I threw myself on the ground, and pushed myself under the bed of the truck. I also willed the ice to melt, giving the van more traction. Somebody had spread salt out on the parking lot earlier, and that made the water easier to control. Suddenly Edward Cullen appeared and stood between me and the van, one arm against the van, the other against me.

It happened in a split second. My heart was hammering in my chest, but I felt good. Alive, really, for the first time in months. It had been too long since my last near death experience. Although I probably could have just stood there and watched as the van had an indent of me in the door and walked away. But I couldn't give myself away like that.

Edward looked at me with an unreadable expression on his face. "Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah I'm fine," I said, studying him. "How did you get here so fast?"

"I was right next to you," he said seriously.

I opened my mouth to argue, then shut it again as Percy begged me to let it go for now. So it seemed as if the Cullens weren't human after all. There was no way he could have moved that fast. That one percent laughed at how I could have ever thought he was human.

An ambulance was called, and Tyler, the driver of the van had to go on a stretcher because he had some pretty deep cuts. I was ushered into the ambulance, thankfully, not on a stretcher. Percy refused to be separated from me and went in to. Edward rode in there also, mostly at the insistence of an EMT.

As I went on the ambulance, I looked at his family. They looked angry to furious, but they did not look in any way concerned for their brother. The one percent turned into a 10.

At the hospital, Tyler refused to shut up about how sorry he was, how he should make it up to me somehow, and Percy was in the chair next to my bed silently laughing.

"Tyler." I said, cutting him off.

"Yeah?" he answered. He really did look sorry, but enough was enough.

"Shut up. If you don't, I'm going to really start wishing you killed me so I won't have to do it myself." I said bluntly. He looked surprised, but he shut up. Finally, I got some quiet. Percy took that moment to actually start laughing out loud, and I joined him after a few seconds. I'd given up politeness years ago, and it actually worked much better for me.

I had to have an x-ray done on my head and right shoulder; because Edward told an EMT that I hit it on the concrete or something.

Just that moment a doctor came in to see Percy and me laughing our heads off in the hospital room. He was pale, and as handsome as his adoptive son.

"Hello Meda," he said. "I'm Dr. Cullen. How are you feeling?"

"Fine. Bit annoyed since Tyler wouldn't shut up, but he has, and I'm good." I said, jerking my thumb over my shoulder at Tyler. He looked surprised at my bluntness.

"May I talk to you privately for a moment? I'm afraid there was something on your x-rays that worried me." He said.

I wondered what was wrong. I'd had a lot of injuries, through foster care, ballet, and normal demigod stuff. But I'd always healed well, and I had no idea what he was talking about. He asked me to follow him to what looked like his office and asked me to have a seat. I insisted Percy come with me.

"When I was examining your x rays, I saw some head trauma and a few injuries to your shoulder and arm. There were more of them than I feel comfortable with, and I know I have no right to intrude, but if you were… harmed in any way growing up, you should know that there are resources available." He said.

I knew he meant well, but what could I say? Oh don't worry about me; I just got those when I was saving every single sorry butt in the world? Instead, I just smiled.

"Dr. Cullen, I was in foster care growing up for many years before I was with Charlie and Renée. I don't know what you've experienced, but in the foster care I was in, fighting happened, and if you didn't get or give a couple fractures during your time, you were probably doing something wrong. I've gotten help since then, and I'm all better now." I assured him. He looked relieved.

"Well, I just wanted to make sure. You seem as if you're free to go, and have a very nice day," he said as he showed us out. Charlie had to go fill out some paperwork, and Percy and I waited in the waiting room. I saw a glimpse of reddish hair and gave my bag to Percy. I was going to track that lying, son of a gun down and make him explain himself.

I caught up to him and grabbed his shoulder and pulled him to me. "What the hell was that all about?" I demanded in a quiet but angry voice. "Why the hell do you expect me to lie for you?"

"You hit your head and have no idea what you're talking about," he said defiantly.

"As if hitting my head would do any damage," I thought to myself.

"What do you think happened?" he asked mockingly.

"I know you were there too quickly," I said. He kept his face smooth, and didn't say anything else. I just wanted to put my knife in his face at that moment, but I turned around and went back to the waiting room. Percy looked at me and I shook my head a little. After some time Charlie dropped both of us off at school and I finished my day with biology and gym. Because the coach found out about what happened that morning, he insisted I sit out, which was fine with me. On the way back, the ice had started to melt, and Percy and I took the chains off.

But, there were even better things that happened because of the incident. Edward Cullen started ignoring me. He never talked to me, looked at me, and breathed at me. It was mildly unnerving, because for the first week or so I expected him to attack me at any point throughout the day, and he never did. Percy did well in school, getting at least a B in most of his classes, and an A- in his chemistry class. Charlie threw a party for us with sushi and sparkling cider. I jokingly requested some alcohol, but sadly, he refused.

One weekend, I got some old targets out of the garage and set them up in the backyard. Whenever I was bored, I would either shoot at them or throw my knives. It calmed me, the concentration I felt when I was training or fighting. Like nothing mattered except my aim, and the thunk as the arrow or knife sunk into the wood. Percy had absolutely no patience for throwing things, and I worried if he had a bow he'd probably kill himself by accident. It was a very likely scenario. But for the first time in years, I was happy, at peace. I had no prophecy to fulfill; I was spending time with my brother and dad. It was good. Really good.


	5. Chapter 5

Sadly, for the rest of the week I was again the center of attention. Tyler followed me around, apologizing. At first I tried to ignore it, but when he started waiting for me after my classes, I snapped. I walked out of my Spanish class in a relatively good mood. I had an A on my latest pop quiz, and I thought I could get a decent GPA for the semester. But when Percy and I walked out of the class and Tyler was already there, I knew what I had to do.

"Hold my books," I told Percy, shoving my books in his arms. He had a grin on his face, already guessing what I was going to do. I stalked over to Tyler and grabbed his shoulder with one hand, and propelled him into the row of lockers with the forearm of my other one on his neck.

"You think this is funny?" I asked. I was well aware that the students were staring, but I was also too angry to care. "This isn't funny. I don't care if you're sorry or what. Talk to me again, and I swear, I'm going to physically harm you. Got it?"

He looked like he was going to wet his pants. He nodded quickly. I backed off and went over to Percy, who was silently laughing at the look on my face and the looks on all the other student's faces.

"I don't think he'll ever bother you again." He said as we sat in our seats. "But why didn't you punch him or something?"

"You know why. If I punched him I'd probably kill him and have no damage whatsoever to my hand. I'd have better luck punching his car." I said. The nice thing about being invincible was I could take more risks. I could block a knife with my shoulder instead of my shield. But I also had to be more careful. No physical violence outside of a fight, no punching cars. Stuff like that, it always got on my nerves.

Jessica and Angela were the most worried about me. They were sure for a second that I had been run over and killed.

"No, don't say that. Haven't you heard the news? I'm practically invincible," I said with a grin. I found over the years that if I told people the truth with a smile, they often thought I was being funny or clever. I was proved right again, when they both smiled and laughed as if I told a joke. Percy didn't approve, he always thought it was too much of a risk.

Nobody paid any attention to Edward though. And after the accident, he started ignoring me in biology. Which was fine by me? It was strange, though, that he kept up the game of being a mortal. But I did have doubts. What if he really was next to me, what if I didn't notice? But I pushed them out of my head. I noticed everything, it was my job.

Mike, on the other hand, was happier and chattier than ever. He would talk to me a bit before the biology started. He was a nice person. And, Jessica had a massive crush on him. But if he thought I liked him back, he was dead wrong. If I ever wanted to date someone, they sure as hell wouldn't be human. Well, they'd have to be another half blood. And Mike was as mortal as you can get.

One day, Jessica asked my permission to ask Mike out to a girl's choice dance. I gave her my enthusiastic permission. The next day, she was very quiet for the two classes we were together. I assumed he turned her down and left it at that. During lunch, Percy and I discussed the upcoming beach trip. We were pretty happy, although we were disappointed we wouldn't get a chance to walk on water, or cause a minor tsunami, kept under control of course.

That day in biology, Mike seemed quieter as I set my stuff out. I didn't mind it, I thought he talked a bit too much anyways. But it was different.

"So Jessica asked me out to the dance today," he stated.

"Have fun," I said, having to stop myself from giggling at the look of shock on his face.

"I told her I would have to think about it, in case you wanted to ask me." He said.

"Mike, you're cool and all, but I have things I would rather do than going on a date with you. For example, sticking my hand down a garbage disposal." I said with a smile. He looked even more shocked, and nodded and walked back to his table. I giggled at his surprise. He must really be used to getting whatever he wants.

Next to me, a soft laugh interrupted my thoughts. Edward Cullen was laughing at me, his head thrown back, and his eyes closed. I looked away and kept ignoring him. After class ended, I quickly gathered up my things.

"Meda?" he asked.

I looked up and stared at him. "What? Are you talking to me again?"

"No, not really." He said.

"Well then," I said as I slung my backpack over my shoulder. "I'll make it easier for you." I turned around and heard him say quickly that it was easier this way. Pompous jerk.

In gym, the class had moved onto basketball. I had to duck out of the way a couple times and never managed to make a basket. I was complaining to Percy about it as I saw a tall person leaning against the truck. It was Eric, someone who we sat with at lunch. I greeted him with a smile, and climbed into the truck.

"Hi Eric, what's up?" I asked.

"Would you go to the dance with me?" he asked. Oh. EW.

"No," I said, and left it at that.

"Why not?" he asked. Yet another guy who was used to getting what he wants.

I stared at him and answered with, "Because I said so." And kept staring until he was to too intimidate and walked away.

Percy laughed as he put the car into reverse. "It's been happening to me all day too," he said. "All these girls don't understand that I am happily taken."

Edward cut us off and was waiting for his family, causing us to idle in the parking lot.

"Are you?" I asked Percy.

"Am I what?"

"Happily taken?"

He thought for a bit. "Yeah, I am." He smiled, and I could see that he was telling the truth.

"But, if I become an aunt while I'm a teenager, we're going to have some serious problems," I warned, and laughed as his face turned beet red. There was a knock on my passenger door. It was a guy that sometimes sat with us at lunch. I didn't even know his name, but by the look on his face, I knew what he was going to ask.

"Will you go to the dance with me?" he asked with a cocky smirk.

"No," I said shortly, wishing that Percy could just run that Volvo over already.

"That's okay," he said. "There's always prom." He waved and walked away to his car. In a split second, I made my decision. I was so effing tired of all these guys thinking they can walk all over me. This never happened in camp, probably because I was too terrifying to ask out. I grabbed a pencil out of my bag- not my knife ones, but just a regular wood pencil and threw myself out of the truck. I took another half second to steady myself, and threw it at his back, in between his shoulder blades. I aimed correctly, and he turned around, shocked to look at me. I held up two middle fingers at him.

"Answer is still no!" I yelled.

I climbed back in the car, and Percy was looking at me in shock.

"Good aim," was all he said as the Cullens moved and we went home.


	6. Chapter 6

For the rest of the day, all Jessica and Angela really talked about was the plans for the dance. Percy and I pretty much just stayed quiet and nodded at the right parts.

"Uneventful, right?" I asked him as we filled our trays with food. He laughed and agreed. Maybe the weather was keeping all the monsters away, because we'd had significantly less to deal with than what we were normally used to. We then talked about possibly getting Tyson to come up here. I hadn't seen him for a couple months, and missed him quite a bit.

Jessica elbowed me in the arm and whispered, "Edward Cullen is staring at you again." I looked and saw that he was sitting at a table alone and staring at me. He motioned for me to come. I motioned Percy to stay, and walked over to the table and plopped myself in the chair across him.

"I must apologize for the way I acted toward you the past few weeks. Please forgive me," he said. He seemed sincere.

"Apology accepted," I said. "Next."

He seemed to find that amusing. But then he went on some talk about letting chips fall, and going to hell thoroughly. I could tell him some things about going to hell, but I decided to keep my mouth shut.

"I don't understand what you're talking about," I said, interrupting him.

"I always do seem to say too much around you," he mused quietly.

"So are we suddenly friends now or what?" I asked. If we did become friends, I have to say I could probably tolerate him. He didn't seem as much of a dick as mike or Eric.

"Friends…" he repeated, seeming to roll the word on his tongue.

Percy came up behind me and sat down. "What's going on?" he asked. Edward leaned forward and studied him intently.

"I think we're friends," I said.

"Friends?" Percy seemed confused.

I crossed my fingers and held them up to Percy's face with my most serious expression. "Besties," I said seriously.

He rolled his eyes and shoved my hand away. "Really?" he asked.

Edward nodded his head.

"Okay," I said, standing up. "I'll see you in biology, BFF."

"I'm not going to biology today. Sometimes ditching is healthy," he said seriously.

"Alright," I said, leaving it at that and walking away. Percy followed me, his hand on my shoulder.

"Okay?" he asked.

"okay." I said. I was sure that if he was a monster, he wouldn't actually do anything. Why bother being friends, and why bother being so outrageously gorgeous?

Jessica pounced on me and asked what he wanted. I told her to ask him if she wanted to know so much. She looked disappointed by my answer.

I made the trek to biology alone; it seemed as if mike hadn't forgiven me for turning him down yet. But I really didn't care about that. When I got to biology, the teacher started handing out cards to all students. We wrote our names on them and then he told us that we would have to prick our finger and learn our blood type.

Well poop.

He showed one student prick their finger, and then told us to do the same. I raised my hand and asked to be excused for the class. I faked looking a bit nauseous, and he immediately let me go. I smiled to myself as I left the room. Blood didn't frighten me, I've seen a lot of my own and my friends' and after a while, I got used to it. But I wondered how it would look if I stuck my finger and broke the needle. I walked under one of the covered walkways and sat one a bench. I leaned my head back and cracked my neck. I then pulled my pencils out and just held them. They really were works of art, all the blade hidden in such a mundane object. They'd saved my life more times than I could count. I started twirling them absentmindedly, wondering if Edward really wanted to be friends or what he was trying to get or do. I hoped Tyson could come over soon, I'd bought some peanut butter, and by some, I meant a lot of peanut butter.

After some time, the bell rang and I put my pencils back in my pocket and waited for Percy outside his class. I had to explain to him about the blood typing thing, and he sympathized with me. It seemed as if everyone was excited for the trip to the beach tomorrow. It was supposed to be partly sunny, and with the near constant rain, almost everyone was excited for it.

The next day, an unusual brightness woke me up, and sure enough, there was some sun peeking out behind the clouds. Percy and I went to the newton's outfitter's store and jumped out. The people there seemed glad to see us. At first, I only thought of them as props, fake friends that I could be seen with, and then leave them when I moved on. But, after a while, I learned that they were all decent people. With the exception of some boys who didn't know the meaning of no, they were alright.

Percy and I got in the back seat of mike's van and we enjoyed the ride to the beach. The forest was really pretty, and in the light I could see all of the leaves on the trees.

The boys lit a driftwood fire, and I was surprised at the color. It was a nice pretty blue. Percy and I left the others to sit on a rock overlooking the water. I felt so calm, and I just didn't feel as if the waves of the ocean matched my mood. I willed them to slow down and become smaller. Percy looked at me and I cracked a smile when he looked back at the waves. He caused one larger wave to break through the water, and then began a battle of wills to see who could control the water. Within minutes we were laughing too much to continue. We were distracted by a few people coming over to the group; they looked like people from the nearby reservation there to socialize.

We jumped off of the rock and went to go see who they were. A boy who noticed me was Jacob, I remembered him as the son of Charlie's friend Billy. I introduced him to Percy, and they seemed to get along.

One of the girls named Lauren chose that moment to talk about how none of the Cullens could come to the beach, and what a shame it was. I didn't like her.

" 's family?" a taller boy asked. "They don't come here." He left it at that.

Some of the boys wanted to go hiking, and Percy wanted to go with them. I urged him to go; I didn't want to seem too clingy. We'd barely separated since coming here, and we were used to being apart so often.

I walked down the beach a bit with Jacob. He said that his two older sisters moved out, and one was in college while the other one was married and living in Hawaii. I didn't think his sisters were much older than I, but it was a surprise.

But I was also curious about that comment the boy made.

"What did that boy mean, when he said the Cullens don't come here?" I asked.

"Do you like scary stories?" he asked.

"Sure," I tried to sound enthusiastic. Maybe this way I could find out what they were.

"One legend says that we're descended from wolves, explaining how it's a tribal law not to kill them. Then there's the one about the cold ones. They're the enemy of the wolf, and the tribal elder was about to kill them. But these ones were different, not dangerous like the others, and a truce was made. They had to stay off tribal land, and we would leave them alone. These were more civilized cold ones; they didn't hunt people, only animals." He said.

"So are the Cullens like the ones your great grandfather met?" I asked.

"No, they're supposed to be the same ones." He said. My mind was reeling.

"And what are the cold ones?" I asked, half knowing the answer but wanting proof.

"Blood drinkers," he answered. "You call them vampires."

There was very little doubt in my mind that he was wrong. Old stories usually turned out to be right, in my experience.


	7. Chapter 7

"Hey if I get my license…" Jacob started.

"You should visit sometime." I said. He seemed nice.

Percy walked over to me and asked if I was ready to go. I nodded stiffly.

Once we got back, I slammed the door to the truck and hurried inside. Charlie was watching a basketball game, and asked us how our day was. I answered, and dragged Percy to my room. I locked the door.

"Vampires," I said. "They're vampires."

"Who?" Percy asked.

"The Cullens and the Hales. They're vampires. Jacob, that boy who's the son of Charlie's friend was telling me some old legends, and he said that they're vampires." I said. Percy seemed shocked.

"Well, it's just a story, right?" he asked.

I gave him a look, and he sat down on the mattress. "Yeah, I know that sounds stupid." He said.

"We're technically just an old story, but that doesn't make us any less real," I shot back.

He nodded, agreeing with me. "So are they dangerous?" he asked.

"From what Jacob said, not really. They apparently drink animal blood instead of human blood. He said that that's what makes their eyes gold, instead of red. And other than that, they try to do their best to blend in." I sat next to him, then leaned back and rested my head against the wall. "Percy, what do we do now?"

"I don't know." He answered.

We just sat there for about half an hour more before he gets up to go to bed. I get ready for bed too, but I know I couldn't sleep. My mind is spinning. So vampires are fast, based on how quickly Edward got to me. They're cold, almost like ice. These ones don't drink human blood, but I'm sure some do. What can kill them? A stake through the heart? Beheading? Could my celestial bronze do the trick? I get up and go to my drawer, knowing I had my crystal in there somewhere. I finally found it, hidden underneath some jeans. I shone a flashlight up and twisted the crystal around until I saw the rainbow.

"Oh goddess, please accept my offering," I said as I tossed my drachma into the rainbow. It didn't hit the floor, so it worked. "Show me Chiron, of camp half blood, new York." I said. The image shimmered, and I saw him eating his dinner in a room. He looked surprised but pleased to see me.

"Meda," he said warmly, "how are you?"

"I'm fine thanks," I said, "but I've encountered something here I don't have experience with."

He smiled at that. "That's surprising, go on."

"They're vampires," I said. His eyes widened.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

I nodded and explained to him the Quileute legend Jacob told me. He nodded, his eyebrows drawing closer and closer together.

"So can they be killed? How?" I asked.

"I will have to do more research." He said. "But, if you need to, use the bronze. It can harm or kill almost anything that is not mortal."

I nodded and sighed. "But they're acting almost human," I said.

"So for now, just ignore them, be polite when you need to. But don't provoke anything." He said seriously.

"I won't. But please tell me if you get any more information." I asked. He agreed and we ended the conversation.

The next day was Sunday, and all Percy and I did was homework. The day turned out to be sunny, so Percy and I couldn't give that up. He brought out an old deflated rubber ball, and then I got my bow and arrows. For the next few hours, Percy threw the ball in the air and I tried to shoot it. I got it more times than I didn't, hitting the ball about 80 or 90% of the time. We were laughing, and then we heard the distinctive sound of hooves hitting grass behind us and the neigh of a horse. Percy and I turned around and saw a Pegasus standing in the back lawn of the house. Finally, some excitement!

Hurry, we have to go, the horse said. There's a big drakon in the woods, and it has to be stopped!

At that moment I wasn't so happy to just get of target practice.

I sighed, then Percy and I climbed on the horse and then they took off. As the only demigods in this area that I knew of, it was kind of up to us to stop any monsters. And the last drakon I remember was the one Clarisse stopped in New York. We found out that this Pegasus is a female, and is very young. She was drawn to us after she saw the drakon, and knew that we would be the ones who could stop it. I started calling her Estella, after that character in great expectations. She was beautiful. Eventually, she set us down in a patch of woods and we thanked her. She flew off, too scared to go farther.

Then we heard the roar. It was a lot like the last drakon, with scales, fangs, poison spewing from its mouth, and a snakelike body. And it was coming our way-fast. I knew that we could beat it, with our partial invincibility, but it would be difficult. Percy had to hide behind his shield to get away from the worst of the poison it let out just then, and I ran away, trying to distract it from Percy. Then I saw a house, its large windows shiny in the sunlight. I cursed to myself, I couldn't go any further, I'd have to go back and run another way. I turned around, just in time to see the powerful tail swinging towards me. It hit me right across the chest, and sent me high up in the air, towards the house. That's when I know I was going to crash through the window unless some god prevents me. I don't get that luck. The glass breaks easily away and I roll backwards and land kneeling on one foot and a knee. I look up to see that the house is thankfully, empty, and draw my bow.

Percy is trying his best to avoid the poison, and I wait for the moment to blind the drakon.

"Hey! Over here!" I yell in an effort to get it to face me. It works, and I pray in that moment to Artemis and Apollo that the shot will land in the eye. It does, and the creature screams in pain. I run and launch myself out of the window and onto the ground two stories below. I take advantage of the confusion the creature is in and throw one small dagger at its snout. It screams again, and Percy is able to sneak on the blind side and stab it on the paw, under a scale. And so it goes on, us weakening it until I am able to jump onto its back, pull out my pencil knife, and stab it truly in the back, shoulder, wherever I can get a blade in. Percy is also working on stabbing it in the neck, and after what seems like forever, the drakon dies. Percy and I give it a distance and watch as it dissolves slowly into the white powder all monsters turn into.

We high fived and saw that a talon of the drakon remained. Percy urged me to get it because I was the one who blinded it. I picked it up, and then called out to Estella. While we were waiting for her, I looked at the window I crashed through.

"Hey Percy, do you have any scrap paper on you?" I asked. It would be rude to leave without apologizing to the owners. And it was a nice house too. Percy patted his pockets until he found an old pop quiz he got a C on in Spanish. I tore off his name and grabbed a sharpie from my pocket. Apologies, I wrote on the paper, and stuck it in the door. Hopefully that would be enough, but they seemed rich anyways. The house was beautiful, and I was sad I ruined it. Oh well, it could be replaced.

Estella came, and Percy and I went back to Charlie's house. We went to the front, and saw him in the kitchen drinking a glass of juice. He had a double take when he saw us, with our torn clothes, and hair filled with dirt and leaves.

"Is that from the…. Half-blood stuff?" he asked tentatively.

"Yeah," I said. "But don't worry, nobody was hurt."

He nodded and waved us upstairs, probably wanting us to clean up. "Teenagers," he muttered under his breath.

Percy and I laughed at that, and then we got cleaned up. That night was stuffed pizza for dinner, and I don't think I could have been happier. Later, when I was doing the dishes, I got an iris message from Chiron. He said that vampires could be killed by celestial bronze.

"How did you find that out?" I whispered.

"I have a colleague in Minnesota. The vampires usually keep quiet, and try not to attract too much attention. But, it is possible to kill them through bronze. Then, you have to burn the pieces." He looked at me seriously. I nodded to show that I understood.

"Meda," he warned. "They're fast. Really fast."

"I'm fast too," I whispered, trying not to disturb Percy and Charlie. They were doing some sort of male bonding ritual that involved watching a sport or something.

"No, they're very fast." He stressed.

"So. Am. I." I said, enunciating each word. I knew what he meant, but I was kind of made and trained to fight. I was half god for crying out loud!

"Just…be careful," he said.

I assured him I would, and ended the message. That night I told Percy what Chiron told me, and we decided to act as normally around them as possible. That dream was different. I was on a wire, high above a chasm. There was Percy, Charlie, Annabeth, Chiron, and countless others were watching me silently. I put one foot out in front of the other, knowing that I had to do this, I had to cross. Then suddenly my foot didn't have a wire underneath it, and I was falling down, down, down until my eyes snapped open at the beeping of my clock.


	8. Chapter 8

I shut off my clock and tried to figure out what to do. As Chiron said, I shouldn't provoke something, and I was sure that they would not kill anyone around, because they're supposed to feed off animal blood. I could either ignore him, or carry on as I was doing. I was unsure about the first one. He and his family were all interesting. His father was even a doctor, and Charlie seemed to like him. I decided to carry on what I was doing after some thinking. What was the worst that could happen? I only had a few years left, why not live dangerously. And, Edward and his family weren't actively trying to kill me, and I couldn't say that about too many non-humans. I rolled out of my bed and got ready for the day.

It was sunny again, which was a blessing, but it wasn't too warm. I also had to wear long sleeves that ended at my wrists, not because I was excessively modest, but because I didn't really want to explain all of the scars I got before I found out that salt water healed me.

Charlie called out a goodbye as Percy and I were eating breakfast. He left a bit earlier than usual, I noticed.

Percy and I pulled into the lot with the rest of the student population. It seemed as if everyone was happy for the sun, and many people were wearing half sleeves and even shorts. That day in math, Jessica asked me if I would go help her pick out a dress in Port Angeles. I asked Percy if he minded, and he encouraged me to go. I guess he also didn't want to seem too clingy, and I decided that I would. All she talked about afterwards was the dance, even continuing onto lunch. As we walked into the cafeteria, I glanced towards the Cullen's table, and saw that it was empty. I was disappointed, because I was curious. Percy saw me glance down, and as we were getting our food, leaned down and whispered "maybe the sunlight burns them."

I laughed, feeling stupid that I didn't think of it before. "Gods I feel dumb," I whispered back.

"It's no different from your usual," he said. I poked his side, and he feigned being injured. He said that he had to go to the office for something, and I met up with him in gym.

Edward wasn't in biology either, and that day in gym, the teacher had to lecture us on the rules of badminton, because there were a few injuries the week before. So pretty much all I had to do that class was sit and pretend to listen. When we were leaving, Percy suddenly clapped his hands over my eyes.

"What are you doing?" I asked as I stopped walking and tried to get his hands off my face.

"Meda, just trust me on this, okay?" he asked.

I stopped struggling and he walked me forward, still keeping my eyes closed.

"You can open them now," he said as he lifted his hands.

There, in the bed of the truck, was Tyson! I squealed as he jumped out and gave me a hug that would've cracked my ribs if I wasn't invincible.

"Oh my gosh!" I said, grinning, "my little brother got me my baby brother!" people were staring at him, mostly because of his height, and the fact that nobody was screaming in horror told me that his eye was covered by the mist, and people saw two eyes, not one.

"We're twins, Meda," Percy said. We'd had this argument many times before.

"Time is money, little bro," I said as Tyson let me down. On the ride home, he talked about his work in the forges, and all of the great armor he was making. He got a promotion, and his stick he got from Zeus was working very well for him. I was surprised at the fact that Charlie's car was in the driveway, and when I walked in, there was a large welcome sign, and two cakes were being unwrapped by Charlie.

He smiled as we came in the room, and I turned around and slapped Percy on the shoulder. A metallic clang echoed through the room.

"You two did this?" I asked.

"Yes, we did," Charlie said, grinning at my reaction. "You were doing so well, and Percy told me how you missed him. So I thought that we could surprise you."

I went forward and hugged Charlie tightly. I did feel guilty for not telling him how much I loved him, and for not seeing him so much after the divorce and before the prophecy.

We spent the rest of the day watching TV, eating cake and drinking soda. Tyson ate one whole cake and four liters of mountain dew, and even had one large jar of peanut butter. Percy and I didn't have homework, because we worked on it over the weekend.

But it couldn't have lasted forever, because that night he was called back to the forge on an emergency. I was disappointed that I didn't get to spend more time with him, but he was doing something he loved, and why would I stop him from that? We all piled into my truck as we drove to the beach at la push again, and we said our goodbyes. Tyson ran into the sea, and gave us one last wave before he disappeared under the waves. Charlie shook his head. I assumed it was difficult for him to see the work of the gods' right in front of his eyes. Percy said that Paul, (I still call him blowfish in my head) had some difficulty adjusting, but took it remarkably well after he saw the battle of New York.

On the ride back I talked to Charlie about going to Port Angeles for dresses with a couple of girls from school, he agreed to let me go. I promised him that I could take care of myself, and for a moment, he seemed sort of sad. But then he cheered up for the rest of the drive.

That night I was happy. I saw Tyson, and I thought about how lucky I was to have people who loved me. It really made up for the first 10 years or so of my life, when I didn't have anybody. The next day was the day of the trip, and it was even better because Lauren, a girl I didn't like who was going on the trip, canceled at the last minute because of other obligations. I climbed into Jessica's car after saying goodbye to Percy. He warned me to keep an eye out for anything, and I assured him I would. Jessica and Angela were talking happily as we exited the town limits.

Jessica drove much faster than Charlie, so the drive to Port Angeles didn't take as long as I expected. She drove straight into the department store and headed to the dresses, not wasting any time on the boardwalk. The sea being so close by was comforting, and I could hear the calming background noise even in the store. They chose their dresses quickly, and their shoes and jewelry even quicker. I guess there was something to be said about the limited choices. In New York, dress shopping could take days.

Not that I'd ever want to get a dress.

Jessica and Angela talked about taking a walk on the boardwalk, but I told them instead I wanted to go find a bookstore. The forks library was severely limited, and this was really my first chance to find a decent supply of books. The end of the workday traffic was light, and I walked down the street until I found a promising looking store.

But, the woman was standing in front of many dream catchers, crystals, and books on spiritual healing. I decided that could wait for many years, I hoped.

I headed further down the street, looking for another one. The town really was pretty, and as the sun set, the traffic got lighter and a bit colder. I zipped up my jacket, glad I had the foresight to bring it. As I turned the corner, four men were right there and surprised, I stepped to the right to let them pass. They were laughing, and as I passed, one called out.

"Hey there," he said. I turned around, and he must have been talking to me, because there was nobody else.

"Hello," I said calmly, staring at him with a hard look on my face. They laughed and kept walking. I continued down the sidewalk, glad that got over with. As I turned another corner, I was disappointed. There was a bit of sidewalk, but all there was in front of me was the back of a warehouse, from the looks of it, abandoned. I sighed, and felt my pocket as my phone vibrated. It was a text from Charlie, saying that Renee was getting worried I hadn't answered her last letter, and that I have to do that when I get back. I learned that I could have a phone if I only received texts, not sent them out. Renee also knew this, and wanted to keep in touch with letters, something that wouldn't attract monsters. I read the text and turned around.

To my surprise, there were two men about twenty feet away from me. They looked like the ones I passed on the street before, but from the looks of their faces, they didn't want any money. I wasn't even carrying my purse. I quickly tried to shift the mist away from them, so I could see what they really looked like, and there was no mist. I thought to my pocketknife, the steel one that could harm mortals, and remembered that it was still in my nightstand. Oh well. I guess I would have to use my hands on them.

The other two came from the other side, closing in, backing me into the corner. I moved; glad to have the shadows so I wouldn't disturb the other mortals. They seemed happy that I was backing up into the dead end. I could see them almost perfectly in the darkness, my eyes adjusting to it better than any human's eyes could do. They kept coming, and I knew what they wanted, knew that my suspicion in the beginning was being proved right.  
"There you are," one of the guys said. "We were looking for you, sugar." He stepped closer, teeth gleaming in a grin.

I threw my head back and started laughing.


	9. Chapter 9

They all looked shocked. I laughed and laughed, wiping tears out of my eyes.

"Did you honestly think you could do what you want to do, to me?" I asked. They were silent, staring at the freak show that was in front of them. "Oh my gods," I said quietly looking at them in wonder, "why didn't I just blow you all up when I had the chance? How can you then try to rape me?" I asked. They stayed silent, probably wondering why I was saying those things, but the anger boiled up in me so strongly. For the good of humanity Meda, I thought bitterly. You had to save them. It was your responsibility.

One advanced toward me and I punched him in the neck. I learned years ago not to hit someone's face, the bones would hurt you. The soft neck often hurt more because then they had trouble breathing. He went down and the other guys backed off when they saw the look on my face. I stood there, over the body of the wheezing man, and I felt so empty inside.

"Meda!" I heard my name is called. I turned around and saw Edward walking smoothly towards me. Smile, friendly, I told myself, ignoring the loud breathing of the man.

"Hey, didn't know you were here," I said as he caught up to me. He suddenly grabbed my arm and was marching away from the place where the men had cornered me.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yes," I answered. "Are you?"

"No. please do me a favor and distract me," he said stiffly.

"You should calm yourself." I said.

He laughed without humor, and kept walking until we reached a silver Volvo, and he opened the door for me. I climbed in, (in hindsight, it was thoughtless) and he was on the other side and starting the engine in what seemed like less than a second. He drove like a maniac through the streets, and I realized after a minute that he was going to the restaurant Jessica and Angela and I agreed to meet at. I wondered how he knew that, and decided that today, I would pry the answers to the questions I have out of him.

He opened the door for me, and I climbed out of the car cautiously. "What are you doing?"

"Taking you to dinner," he said with a dry smile.

Shiiiiit. Did he expect me to kill someone and drink their blood? Did I need to give him my blood to drink? He motioned to the restaurant and I was glad it was normal eating. Jessica and Angela stepped out of the door at that moment and took a double take when they saw who I was with.

"Where have you been?" Jessica demanded.

"I got lost, and then I ran into Edward," I lied smoothly. She seemed to believe it, and Edward then said something about making sure I eat. Jessica and Angela agreed to go, and have Edward drive me back. He ushered me into the restaurant. Because it was a weekday, it was pretty empty.

The waitress was very flustered as she took us to our seats. I wondered why I couldn't be like that when I was in the presence of his gorgeousness. He smiled when she showed us to our seats, and she was mumbling incoherent words as she walked away. I felt sorry for her. I was glad though, that his beauty did not do that to me. I would never want to show such weakness. He insisted that I order something, so I ordered a coke and mushroom ravioli when the server came out. The server was also female, and was…dazzled; there was no other word for it, really, by Edward's beauty.

I put my palms together and rested my chin on my thumbs. I was wondering what to say. I opened my mouth, really just going to say "boo! Vampire!" but I had a feeling that that wouldn't go over so well. Instead, I put my hands down and asked, "How was your weekend?"

"Interesting," he said with a smile. He looked devastating when he smiled. "We went camping all weekend, and when we came home, we found that somebody threw a rock in one of our windows. They even left an apology note in the front door, surprisingly."

I carefully kept my face blank, but on the inside I was having a minor meltdown. So it was his house I crashed through. But what was I supposed to say? "Hey I just wanted to let you know I somersaulted through your window when I was fighting a mythical monster!" I tried to push the thought out of my mind. If you can convince yourself it never happened, it made lying easier because you think it's somehow the truth.

"That was nice of them. I hope they didn't cause too much damage," I said.

"They didn't. Actually, we never found the rock. They must have picked it up or something," he seemed worried.

"Maybe it was a wizard. Harry potter style wizard," I said.

He just stared at me.

"What?" I asked. It was making me mildly uncomfortable.

"I'm waiting for you to go into shock," he admitted after a couple seconds.

"Oh please, don't think too poorly of me," I said. "I've been through worse. When I was younger, all of the older kids would set up fights between the younger kids and bet on who would win."

He looked vaguely disgusted. "That's horrible."

"Well after a while let's just say people learned to bet on me," I said, staring at him. He should know that I'm not weak.

The cokes and my meal arrived and he stared at me. The food smelled really delicious, and I started eating.

"I do have questions, you know." I said.

"Go ahead," his voice was steady and measured.

"Why are you in  
port Angeles?" I asked.

"next." He said.

I stared at him, making sure that he knew that I wouldn't budge until I got my information.

"I followed you," he said on a sigh.

"Why?" I asked.

"I worry about you," he said after some time.

I was puzzled. Why would anyone worry about me? I could fight, verbally and physically, I was strong, I could take care of myself. My stomach dropped as I realized that this may complicate the hope I had for joining the huntresses.

"You eat, and I'll talk," he said. I put ravioli into my mouth and motioned him to continue.

"It's difficult, keeping tabs on you. I can usually find someone easily once I've listened to their mind before. Yes, I can read minds," he added as an afterthought. I immediately thought of every single curse word, Greek and English that I knew.

"When I realized you left Jessica and Angela, I went to the bookstore I saw in her head, but you weren't there. Then I heard what they were thinking." He stopped there, looking at me. "What did you mean about blowing them up?" he asked after a while.

"Why don't you read my mind?" I asked.

"I can't. You or your brother's. They're both completely silent to me." He said. I wondered if it was because I'm a half blood.

"Has that ever happened before?" I asked.

"No," he said. "Are you ready to go home?" he asked.

I nodded, and drank the last of the coke. He paid, and I got up and followed him to his car. He opened the passenger door for me, and I stared at him until he got the hint and went to the driver's side. I slammed the door shut, opened it again, and got in. he was laughing as I buckled my seatbelt.

"I still have more, you know." I said.

He nodded, and didn't seem pleased


	10. Chapter 10

"So I was at the beach a couple weekends ago and I was talking to my friend Jacob black. He said that you and your family are vampires. Is that true?" there was really no sense beating around the bush.

He laughed loudly. "You really don't waste time, do you?" he asked.

"I don't have time to waste," I said to myself, looking out the window.

"Yes, it's true," he said slowly. "What are you thinking?"

"It really doesn't matter," I said.

"It doesn't matter if I'm a monster? If I'm not human?" he asked incredulously.

"No, not really. Do you kill people?" I asked.

"Not for a while." He said.

"Deal drugs?"

"No,"

"Hell bent on world domination or destruction?"

"No,"

"Then we're good," I said. But after I stopped talking, I had more questions. "Burned by the sun?"

"Myth, but I shouldn't come out in the sun."

"Sleep in coffins?"

"I can't sleep," he said.

"Oh that sucks. Or rocks, I don't know."

"Don't you care about my diet?" he asked almost bitterly.

"Yeah, Jake said something about that, you don't eat humans?" I asked.

"They have a long memory," he said. "But sometimes, we make mistakes. I'm making one right now, in fact."

"This is a mistake?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Why hunt animals instead of people?" I asked.

He was silent, but then answered after a couple seconds. "I don't want to be a monster, he said. Of course, animals aren't enough. We compare it to living on tofu and soy milk, we call ourselves vegetarians, an inside joke."

"That's nice, not killing people," I said. "Were you eating animals this weekend?"

"Yes," he said. He left it at that. I looked at the speedometer, and saw that he was going a hundred miles an hour. I briefly thought about saying something, but decided against it. If we crashed, I'd be fine.

"Are you going to be in class tomorrow?" I asked. I didn't think it would be sunny tomorrow.

"Yes, I have a paper due, you know." He smiled. We arrived in forks in about twenty minutes.

Somehow, he knew the way to Charlie's house, which I found slightly disturbing, but let it go. Just in case, I made a mental note to hide all of my normal weapons under the bed.

"Sleep well," he said as I got out of the car.

"You too," I said with a grin.

I let myself into the house, and Percy was surprised that I was back by 7:30. I dragged him upstairs again and told him about what had happened. Not surprisingly, he was most upset by my punching a man in the neck and talking about blowing him up.

"I wish we could have blown him up though," he said after I finished.

"He'll get what's coming to him after he dies," I said. Percy seemed to be looking forward to that, at least.

"So they really don't kill people? And he can read minds?" he asked after a short pause.

"Well, it seems like they have a conscience. And yeah, he can read minds, except ours. Maybe he can only read human and vampire minds." I said. I also explained that I crashed into his house over the weekend.

"Well, that's great, about the mind reading stuff. I don't really think he'd want to know what goes on in my mind," Percy said.

"Ew! I don't need to know either, especially if it involves Annabeth!' I hit him with a pillow and he turned bright red.

"Not like that, you perv," he said, hitting me back. I went on the offensive, driving him out of my room eventually.

The next day, Percy and I were running late, and we hurried into our English class with a minute to spare. Jessica immediately started peppering me with questions, and after a while, I was so annoyed I told her that until she chooses a topic of conversation I cared about, she shouldn't talk to me. She looked absolutely shocked. I guessed bluntness was a new concept around forks. I also realized that I liked Angela more than Jessica. She was polite and quiet, while Jessica was rude and loud. I didn't think Percy was all too fond of the mortal company. They weren't all that bad, but they weren't all that good, either.

Lunch started out normally, but after a few minutes Percy nudged me and gestured to Edward sitting alone at a table. "Let's go," he said. "I'm tired of them." I understood what he was feeling. We gathered our stuff and walked over to his table. I felt the stares on our backs, but I'd been the new girl enough that I'd gotten used to it. Edward gave us a smirk as we sat across from him.

"You know they're all staring at outright?" he asked.

"Oh really, I hadn't noticed," I said dryly, continuing to eat my pizza. I looked up and saw his family looking as well. The blonde girl looked furious, but everyone else was either neutral or amused. The short girl with a pixie cut looked incredibly happy.

"Is that any good?" Edward asked looking at my pizza.

"Well, it's not an angry grizzly," I responded.

Both Edward and Percy laughed. Edward glanced back at the rest of his family.

"They're not too happy," he said.

"Oh that's too bad. I've always wanted to make sure your vampire family approved of us." I said.

"Meda," Percy said in an effort to get me to shut up.

"What? We can't all be as polite and long suffering as you," I said.

He put his head in his hands. "How in the world did I ever get a sister like you?" he moaned, mostly to himself.

"Well, once upon a time, our father saw our mother, probably walking along the beach or something like that, you know how he is, and he thought to himself, 'wow, that is one nice looking….'" Percy cut me off by covering my mouth.

"No," was all he said.

I uncovered my mouth. "Get to class, idiot, you're going to be late," I said. The cafeteria mostly empty and I dumped my tray and went to biology.

After we sat down, Edward asked me a difficult question.

"What did you mean about your parents meeting on the beach? You said something about the way your father is?" he asked.

"Oh yeah," I said. I decided to go with my most used tactic. Telling 90% truth with a smile so nobody could believe it. "My father goes by Poseidon. You know, god of the seas, and the beach, sea," I waved my hands around so he could get it.

"Your father's name is Poseidon?" Edward asked. I imaged Percy having a heart attack.

"No, I said he goes by Poseidon." I said.

"Then what's his name?"

"Um… Carl, maybe…. Timothy. Richard is a good guess. I've only ever met him a couple times." I nodded.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"What about your parents?" I asked. The class was still settling in.

"They died many years ago," he said.

"I'm sorry," I responded.


End file.
